Krauss to fill role as team’s 3rd catcher

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Astros manager Bo Porter is going to be able to use Carlos Corporan, a switch-hitter, more comfortably off the bench because of the presence of Marc Krauss.

Typically, it can be worrisome for manages to pinch hit their back-up catchers, because if the starting catcher gets hurt, that could lead to a bind where there’s no one experienced left on the bench to catch. But Porter fully intends to use Corporan in that role — that’s part of the thinking behind the new lineup he’s planning to use.

Marc Krauss, who has made the Astros as a platoon first baseman and occasional outfielder, is the team’s third catcher. He bought a new catcher’s mitt this spring training, and now that he’s made the club, he’s going to continue to work on his catching skills.

All spring long, Astros catchers and catching instructors worked out early, at 6:45 a.m., to improve their receiving skills. Krauss attended some of those sessions.

“I was out there over a handful of times,” said Krauss, who was a catcher in high school. “Just remember everything I used to do.”